1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to water walking shoes, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved designed for water walking shoes. Water walking shoes known in the prior art are designed according to well known principles of physics as established centuries ago by Archimedes. These principles establish that it is necessary to provide a sufficient buoyancy to the water walking shoes to offset the weight of the wearer. In order to achieve sufficient buoyancy, conventional water walking shoes have been large bulky affairs which are difficult to manipulate properly. In one type of conventional water walking shoe, a bell in which air is trapped supports the weight of the wearer. However, the suction effect created within the bell makes it extremely difficult to lift the bell from the surface of the water to take a step. In order to overcome these difficulties, the present invention provides a water walking shoe which operates on the principle of a diving bell, trapping air within a bell shaped shell and utilizing the buoyancy of the trapped air to support the weight of a wearer. In order to allow the wearer to easily lift their foot from the surface of the water, the present invention provides a series of vent holes for venting the interior of the bell, thus allowing the suction effect to be broken.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Various types of water walking shoes are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a water walking shoe is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,413,602, which issued to T. Michalski on Apr. 25, 1922. This patent discloses water walking shoes constructed as enclosed floats connected by a pivotal linkage. This enables one shoe at a time to be lifted from the surface of the water and advance forwardly relative to the other shoe. At this time the second shoe is then lifted from the surface of the water and advance relative to the previously advanced shoe. U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,790, which issued to L. Geiger on Sept. 15, 1953, discloses a water walking shoe which may be constructed as a double walled bell. A binding device is attached at a top portion of the bell for mounting the shoe on a wearer's foot. However, this patent does not disclose the use of any vent holes for breaking the suction effect created when the bell is placed over the surface of a body of water. U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,427, which issued to B. Davis et al on Mar. 2, 1971, discloses water walking shoes constructed as hollow floats filled with a buoyant foam material. A binding on the upper surface of the float is utilized to mount the wearer's foot. A pair of V-shaped recesses are formed on the underside of the float to provide tractional resistance against rearward movement of the float. U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,668, which issued to H. Braun on July 23, 1985, discloses a device for walking on the surface of a water comprising a series of horizontally elongated parallel keels and flaps pivotally suspended from the keels. When downward force is applied to the device in the water, the flaps pivot upwardly to form roofs of channels between adjacent keels. When the device is lifted from the water, the flaps swing downwardly, thereby breaking any suction effect which would cause retention of water within the channel. Such mode of operation improves the ease with which the device is lifted from the water in walking or skating motion. A binding is provided on the upper surface of the device for mounting a wearer's foot. U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,329, which issued to R. Celez on Oct. 21, 1986, discloses water walking shoes comprising a float assembly constructed from light buoyant materials. The float includes a binding for mounting a wearer's foot and a tail section for providing a reaction surface for pushing the shoe forwardly and a steering surface.
While the above mentioned devices are suited for their intended usage, none of these devices provide a water walking shoe constructed as a dual bell. Further, none of the foresaid devices utilize a bell shaped shell provided with vent holes for breaking the suction effect. A further feature of the present invention not contemplated by the prior art devices is the use of a flexible inner bell received within an outer bell provided with vent holes, the inner bell serving to sequentially open and close the vent holes of the outer bell. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of water walking shoes, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such water walking shoes, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.